Happy Birthday, Mark Zuckerberg! Here are 10 Random Things You Might Not Know About Him

We know he’s worth a whole lot of money ($17.5 billion to be exact). We know he is the father of Facebook, and refuses to sell it because he wants to keep raising it. We know he went to Harvard, but never finished. We know there is a set of twins who wish they had never met him. And, we know that today, May 14th, is his 28th birthday. But, there has to be more to know about Mark Zuckerberg.

He’s always in the news. The award-winning movie ‘The Social Network’ was made about him and his social media networking invention. What’s strange is, in all of this media coverage, we don’t really get to know a lot about the Zuck himself. How many times can we hear “Hi, I’m Mark Zuckerberg, I invented Facebook?” Yes, we know. We got that.

To celebrate “The Faceberg’s” birthday, we dug around and found 10 things about him that you may not have known.

He Doesn’t Own a Majority of Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook

While Zuckerberg is the chairman and CEO of Facebook, and is the individual with the largest share of the company, as of February of this year, he only actually owns 28.4 percent of the common stock of the company. He does have a majority of the voting power, with his “likes” weighing in at 56.9 percent. That means, Facebook-daddy always gets his way.

He Created a Primitive Version of a Chat System

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook

While he was in school at Harvard, but before he created Facebook, Zuckerberg created a software program, creatively named ‘ZuckNet,’ that made it possible for all of the computers between his parents’ house and his father’s dental office to communicate by pinging each other. The system he created is considered to be a primitive version of how AOL’s Instant Messenger works.

He Had An Offer From Microsoft in High School

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook

In high school in the early 2000s, Zuckerberg created a music player called the Synapse Media Player that used artificial intelligence to discern a listener’s music habits and recommend songs. Zuckerberg passed on a bid from Microsoft and AOL to purchase Synapse and also recruit him to their teams, instead opting to upload the software online for free. He then enrolled at Harvard, probably knowing he wasn’t likely to ever have to work for anyone.

He’s Got a Few Nicknames

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook

From what we can tell in blogs posted about the billionaire, friends and co-workers call him “Zuck.” That’s not Zuckerberg’s only nickname, though. When he was a kid, his mom called him “Princely,” which is cute and probably had nothing to do with the inflation of his ego. He joined the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity at Harvard University, and his friends there called him “Slayer” for some reason. Maybe there were dragons in the basement.

He Can’t See Red and Green

Facebook.com

We know that Zuckerberg rolls in green, but according to interviews he’s given, he can’t see green. He suffers from red-green colorblindness, which means blue is the color he sees best. That would explain why blue is the primary color of Facebook’s user interface.

He’s Only Got 91 Pics Posted on Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook

Zuckerberg’s collection of photos on Facebook is slightly less than enthralling. He does, however, seem to post the same kinds of things the rest of us post, aside from the occasional press photo from the Wall Street Journal or Business Week. There are pics of food, friends and pets, including a couple of very cute dogs. So, now we know he eats, likes to take photos of what he eats, hangs out and likes dogs.

He Wore a Tie for a Year

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook

According to the Facebook Timeline of the social media giant, in 2009 he wore a tie for an entire year. He wrote, “My 2009 challenge was to wear a tie for a whole year. After the start of the recession in 2008, I wanted to signal to everyone at Facebook that this was a serious year for us. My tie was the symbol of how serious and important a year this was, and I wore it every day to show this.” Of course, there’s only one photo of Zuckerberg in a tie in any of his albums, so he has provided no proof that he actually accomplished this challenge.

He’s a ‘Star Wars’ Geek

Mark Zuckerberg

Say what you will about the man we got to know in ‘The Social Network,’ there is definitely one reason to love him: he’s a huge ‘Star Wars’ fan. You have to respect a guy who loves the legendary good versus evil saga that is ‘Star Wars.’ You also have to give a guy nerd props for being able to get his parents to give him a ‘Star Wars’-themed Bar Mitzvah. We find that to be an excellent use of The Force.

His Dog Has a Facebook Page

Beast, Facebook

There is a big, fluffy, white Puli named Beast who has taken up residence with Zuckerberg and girlfriend Priscilla Chan. This Beast has his own Facebook page, which is undeniably adorable. He’s a rather photogenic pup, so it’s no surprise that he has almost as many pics on his page as Zuckerberg has. He’s sure to overtake him in the photo race any day now. A billionaire pooch who seems pretty down-to-earth? Let Puli run Facebook!

He Likes George Takei

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook

Among Zuckerberg’s many “likes” on his own Facebook page, is ‘Star Trek’ alum and new social media darling George Takei. Zuckerberg also likes the sci-fi book ‘Enders Game,’ the bad ‘Daft Punk,’ the Yankees, fencing, playing tennis, and is interested in “minimalism and “eliminating desire.” He also likes “breaking things,” which is something he probably shares with Beast.

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